Full Stack Bassist Group (Scott's Bass Lessons).

[OlyWhite]

Oh, I forgot Pro Skills was opening up. I’m going to try to get to it later tonight but it might be tomorrow sometime. Work, family, etc.

I don’t know about you guys, but I think Scott’s bass sounds fantastic on these videos. Yeah I know, it’s just a P bass DI’d, but still…

 

[c5hokie]

I’m not there for a bit. I do have a rudimentary ( very) understanding of the basic concept. As you described it, this sounds like fun. Something I’ll definitely look forward to. Sounds like a lot to learn from that workshop.

To be fair, I’m not really there yet either. But I’m glad I jumped ahead. Modes are new (and very confusing) to me. And trying to understand when I should be playing major, minor and diminished triads has also been confusing - I get it conceptually, but struggle to play it properly.

Ian explained a lot of stuff in the workshop that Scott has covered already, but in a way that made better sense to me. And when he explained the Nashville Numbers for minor keys that opened my eyes in a whole new way.

I think the workshop is very useful helping me understand the Module 2 lessons that I’ve already done. I’m looking forward to lessons 5 & 6 with my new and better understanding.

 

[OlyWhite]

One more day until Technique classes open.

Not sure I love having them open on a Monday. I know most bass players are rolling in dough and therefore have the day off, but I still have a day job. Why didn’t I buy bitcoin when it was still $0.000001?

 

[c5hokie]

I finished 2-6 yesterday, and today I started over at 1-1. I’ll go thru them rather quickly, but I want to make sure I didn’t miss anything theory-wise before I jump into module 3.

 

[OlyWhite]

Oh, happy days! The course is unlocked on UK time!

I don’t know precisely when it unlocked but it was available 9pm Central US.

 

[mcaputi]

I started Module 2 on Fri Jan 31, a few days earlier than I planned. I've worked through Lectures 2 & 3 at far slower bpm than Scott's videos. In all cases I cannot yet get too much closer to his faster tempo. I have taken some time to write in the scale degrees in the workbook and tried to visualize the shapes of the Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic Patterns. This helps to not just memorize the examples but to understand the examples. My written plan is to start Module 3 on April 14, but I think I will be finished working through Module 2 well before that. I guess it would be a good idea to go back to Modules 1 and 2 to see if I can increase the tempo on all of the examples. Maybe play them at Scott's tempo, as a goal, but with a focus on proper technique. If I can't reach Scott's tempo, then perhaps focus on improvising my own examples at a lower tempo.

I think taking Horbäach Green Lipped Mussel, 750 mg Capsules, from New Zealand, Freeze Dried Mussel Powder twice a day for the last 4 weeks has been beneficial to relieving a good measure of joint pain and stiffness in my fingers. I didn't realize until just now that I practiced FSB for my usual 35 minutes this evening without my compression glove on my plucking hand. And my fingers feel fine, thank God!

However, I've been nodding off while practicing, trying to memorize the examples. I have to stop for a few minutes to recharge than go at it again. I guess it's memory overload.

 

[Square]

There is SO much to learn for me. I think I’ve sworn off try to remember any of the examples. I’m on the last lesson in mod 1. My plan of attack is to learn the fingerings and intervals of each element. In this case, 1357, 135b7, 1b357 and their application to each chord type. Then of course multiple fret board patterns for each. These I will memorize and get comfortable with.

This seems to make sight reading (tab) of the examples doable. That is as long as I can find my place on the fretboard without looking. Actually I do pretty well with that.

I look at it like this, I started FSB with an almost entirely empty toolbox. With each lesson I’m finding tools that I will add to my box.

 

[OlyWhite]

I crashed through the first two lessons of the technique module pretty fast. Good material but I learned most of that long ago on guitar.

Lesson 3, the plucking lesson, well thats another story. I’m going to be stuck there for a couple weeks. I can see/hear the benefit of what he’s teaching but it’ll take me some time to get it drilled into my head and fingers.

I’ll go back and review some of the earlier lessons when plucking practice gets a little mind-numbing.

I think I’ve come a long way during this course. I’m really happy I signed up.

 

[Charlinho14]

To be fair, I’m not really there yet either. But I’m glad I jumped ahead. Modes are new (and very confusing) to me. And trying to understand when I should be playing major, minor and diminished triads has also been confusing - I get it conceptually, but struggle to play it properly.

Ian explained a lot of stuff in the workshop that Scott has covered already, but in a way that made better sense to me. And when he explained the Nashville Numbers for minor keys that opened my eyes in a whole new way.

I think the workshop is very useful helping me understand the Module 2 lessons that I’ve already done. I’m looking forward to lessons 5 & 6 with my new and better understanding.

I've attached an excellent exercise to help you memorize the modes. It goes through each scale degree with the mode, arpeggio, pentatonic scale and ends on the chord. You can apply it later to any key you want. I still use it as a warm up. Having the arpeggio for each mode will help you memorize which degree corresponds to major, minor chords. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me.

 

[mcaputi]

I've attached an excellent exercise to help you memorize the modes.

Thanks so much.

 

[mcaputi]

Hi all. I just sent an email to SBL requesting a cancellation of the FSB program and a refund of the cost. I tried for 11 weeks in a row, but I couldn't keep up with the exercises. I assessed my situation with much thought and consideration, so I didn't make the decision lightly.

I appreciate all the discussion and encouragement on this Group for the three months. Thanks everyone!

My list of comments below were emailed to SBL.

Comments for Scott about the FSB Program
Upside

• I've practiced through 11 full weeks, 4-5 practice sessions per week, averaging 33 min per session.
• I reached Module 2, Lesson 5, Exercise 2.
• The videos are superb. I truly felt like Scott was teaching directly to me.
• The Course Workbooks are excellent support material. I printed these out and bound them as spiral booklets.
• It's good that you lengthened the time between Modules, creating parts 1 and 2.
• The cost was good.

Downside

• I'm 65 years old, and have practiced bass on and off since 1997, with about 10 years of practice.
• My fingers can tolerate only about 35 minutes of practice per session.
• I did not make the progress I hoped for. After 11 weeks, I don;t see a real improvement in ability.
• The videos were fun to watch in order to hear the Exercise played through, but I couldn't learn it that way
• I had to slow down each and every Video Exercise (converted to mp3) to 70% of the original BPM, in order to learn them.
• I had to use the TAB along with the slowed down audio version.
• I could never play any Exercise at its original full speed.
• The Module 1 exercises used a lot of 8th and 16th notes requiring intermediate to advanced technique.
• The Technique and Groove material was not taught along with the Exercises. That material doesn't come until Modules 3 and 4.
• I can't play Slap at all, so I had to skip some exercises, and there were no substitutes for them without Slap.
• I have the Technique and Practice Accelerators already.

Final Comments

• Perhaps sequencing the topics from among the different Modules would have helped.
• Maybe release the Program next time as a daily bass practice routine that includes a mix of
  • finger exercises to improve dexterity
  • scale practice for melodic foundation
  • basic rhythm patterns to solidify your groove
  • and playing along with songs

Thank you very much,
Mauro Caputi

 

[Square]

I've attached an excellent exercise to help you memorize the modes. It goes through each scale degree with the mode, arpeggio, pentatonic scale and ends on the chord. You can apply it later to any key you want. I still use it as a warm up. Having the arpeggio for each mode will help you memorize which degree corresponds to major, minor chords. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me.

Thanks for this. I’ll have a look when I get to a computer. I’m currently working the module on scales and modes.

I have the major scale ( in C) across the entire neck down pretty well. Another couple of days and I’ll experiment with the same using different keys.

I understand the concept of modes and through my guitar playing I can play them against the appropriate chord patterns as long as the parent scale is C. That is just because I know the pattern and where all the notes are on the fret board. Spelling drills might help here.

I’ve been struggling with playing the modes across different keys without learning each mode as a separate scale. I’m focusing on having an immediate recall of all of the intervals of the parent major scale. I’m hoping that seeing the changing order of those intervals will become easier then as I begin to add the modes.

Hi all. I just sent an email to SBL requesting a cancellation of the FSB program and a refund of the cost. I tried for 11 weeks in a row, but I couldn't keep up with the exercises. I assessed my situation with much thought and consideration, so I didn't make the decision lightly.

I appreciate all the discussion and encouragement on this Group for the three months. Thanks everyone!

My list of comments below were emailed to SBL.

Comments for Scott about the FSB Program
Upside

• I've practiced through 11 full weeks, 4-5 practice sessions per week, averaging 33 min per session.
• I reached Module 2, Lesson 5, Exercise 2.
• The videos are superb. I truly felt like Scott was teaching directly to me.
• The Course Workbooks are excellent support material. I printed these out and bound them as spiral booklets.
• It's good that you lengthened the time between Modules, creating parts 1 and 2.
• The cost was good.

Downside

• I'm 65 years old, and have practiced bass on and off since 1997, with about 10 years of practice.
• My fingers can tolerate only about 35 minutes of practice per session.
• I did not make the progress I hoped for. After 11 weeks, I don;t see a real improvement in ability.
• The videos were fun to watch in order to hear the Exercise played through, but I couldn't learn it that way
• I had to slow down each and every Video Exercise (converted to mp3) to 70% of the original BPM, in order to learn them.
• I had to use the TAB along with the slowed down audio version.
• I could never play any Exercise at its original full speed.
• The Module 1 exercises used a lot of 8th and 16th notes requiring intermediate to advanced technique.
• The Technique and Groove material was not taught along with the Exercises. That material doesn't come until Modules 3 and 4.
• I can't play Slap at all, so I had to skip some exercises, and there were no substitutes for them without Slap.
• I have the Technique and Practice Accelerators already.

Final Comments

• Perhaps sequencing the topics from among the different Modules would have helped.
• Maybe release the Program next time as a daily bass practice routine that includes a mix of
  • finger exercises to improve dexterity
  • scale practice for melodic foundation
  • basic rhythm patterns to solidify your groove
  • and playing along with songs

Thank you very much,
Mauro Caputi

Sad news. I will say that I have to supplement my FSB lessons with other exercises. If I had more years on the bass that probably wouldn’t be necessary.

I’m going through the lessons slower than most others probably are, but I am learning more with each day. The application is where I falter.

I use bass-less backing tracks (you tube) to work on applying what the lessons teach. This gives me a variety of tempos and rhythms to consider. I also work on learning songs and try to recognize how and when the different elements are used.

In the end you have to do you. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

 

[c5hokie]

Hi all. I just sent an email to SBL requesting a cancellation of the FSB program and a refund of the cost. I tried for 11 weeks in a row, but I couldn't keep up with the exercises. I assessed my situation with much thought and consideration, so I didn't make the decision lightly.

I appreciate all the discussion and encouragement on this Group for the three months. Thanks everyone!

My list of comments below were emailed to SBL.

Comments for Scott about the FSB Program
Upside

• I've practiced through 11 full weeks, 4-5 practice sessions per week, averaging 33 min per session.
• I reached Module 2, Lesson 5, Exercise 2.
• The videos are superb. I truly felt like Scott was teaching directly to me.
• The Course Workbooks are excellent support material. I printed these out and bound them as spiral booklets.
• It's good that you lengthened the time between Modules, creating parts 1 and 2.
• The cost was good.

Downside

• I'm 65 years old, and have practiced bass on and off since 1997, with about 10 years of practice.
• My fingers can tolerate only about 35 minutes of practice per session.
• I did not make the progress I hoped for. After 11 weeks, I don;t see a real improvement in ability.
• The videos were fun to watch in order to hear the Exercise played through, but I couldn't learn it that way
• I had to slow down each and every Video Exercise (converted to mp3) to 70% of the original BPM, in order to learn them.
• I had to use the TAB along with the slowed down audio version.
• I could never play any Exercise at its original full speed.
• The Module 1 exercises used a lot of 8th and 16th notes requiring intermediate to advanced technique.
• The Technique and Groove material was not taught along with the Exercises. That material doesn't come until Modules 3 and 4.
• I can't play Slap at all, so I had to skip some exercises, and there were no substitutes for them without Slap.
• I have the Technique and Practice Accelerators already.

Final Comments

• Perhaps sequencing the topics from among the different Modules would have helped.
• Maybe release the Program next time as a daily bass practice routine that includes a mix of
  • finger exercises to improve dexterity
  • scale practice for melodic foundation
  • basic rhythm patterns to solidify your groove
  • and playing along with songs

Thank you very much,
Mauro Caputi

Mauro - sorry it didn't work out for you. I'm also struggling to keep up with the lessons now, as my life/work has gotten a lot busier that it was when I started the program. I'm going to keep at it, though. I have definitely learned a lot so far, and it has changed the way I approach learning new songs for sure.

Everyone's situation is different, but at least for me I'm happy with the progress I've made so far and looking forward to continuing to get better. Best of luck to you in the future.

If they send a response that has anything of substance in it, I would be curious to see what that response is.

Dave

 

[mcaputi]

I'm very happy for those of you who are continuing the FSB program. All the very best to each one of you. It's a very good program.
I still prefer to play quarter-note jazz walking bass lines, and I still need to work on FH & PH technique to get just the most basic series of root notes
on a 12 bar blues to sound even in tone and volume. It's still amazing to me how slowly I have to play just to do this.

I emailed SBL at 4:39 pm (NY time) and heard back (below) at 6:00 pm (NY time, which is 11:00 pm in Leeds, UK!)
------------------------------
Hi Mauro
Thank you for your email
I have issued your refund. You should receive this within 5-10 days though it is usually quicker.
If you need any other help please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Sara Norcott
Customer Support
-----------------------------
I didn't really need to give any reason, apparently.

WHAT'S NEXT: For the past two days I've been researching (and praying) on what to do next. Out of the massive collection of Bass material I have,
I still looked online for what else I could use. As usual!

I re-stumbled upon info about Jim Stinnett, a retired Prof who taught bass and arranging at Berklee College of Music for three decades.
[ In Memoriam: Jim Stinnett ] .

I have used two of his books in the past:
Creating Jazz Bass Lines [ cjbl ]
and
Reading in Bass Clef [ ribc ]

This time I've settled on
DAILY PRACTICE FOR BASS - Level 1 [ daily practice level 1 ]
Description: A regimented program based on 45 minutes of practice each day. Most days consist of three 15 minute practice sessions.
[ Daily Practice Program | stinnettmusic.com ]
Syllabus: [ Daily Practice Program | stinnettmusic.com ]
Download: All examples and play-alongs available for free download at [ Daily Practice For Bass Level 1 | stinnettmusic.com ]
See Inside This Book: [ http://www.stinnettmusicbookstore.c...ractice_level_1_files/look inside level 1.pdf ]

I've found that I prefer to be told exactly what to practice rather than randomly figure it out for myself. I guess any book method will do this.
However, I also like having a variety of topics to practice, and this book seems to provide that from an expert in this area who's taught
students for 30 years in school and many more years on his own. [ Real Bass Lessons ]

I have tried many extensive books on Sight Reading, but fizzled out as I didn't cycle it with other topics.
This time, I hope to pick up the sight reading a little bit at a time according to the regimented plan.

 

[OlyWhite]

Sorry to hear you dropped out @mcaputi but it sounds like they honored their refund commitment. Best of luck with your next steps!

———

Four hours of jazz?!?!?

 

[Ulf Buck]

SBL crushes everything I heard.

 

[OlyWhite]

Another batch of lessons opens up in ~24 hours.

How’s everyone doing? I’ll admit to being in a slump lately. I’ve been spending more time learning songs than Full-Stacking it.

 

[c5hokie]

Another batch of lessons opens up in ~24 hours.

How’s everyone doing? I’ll admit to being in a slump lately. I’ve been spending more time learning songs than Full-Stacking it.

Same. My band is on a learning new songs binge so I’ve working on 5 songs at the moment.

Just feel like I’m losing momentum with Full Stack. I need to get back to it quickly before I stall out completely.

 

[Square]

Still lumbering on at my slow pace. I'm just now opening the Major Pentatonic lesson.

I seem to treat each lesson like a rabbit hole to be jumped into and an excuse to investigate all of the edges. I'm probably getting deeper into each topic than I should.

Example: for the last two weeks I have been playing the maj, min, dom, and min7b5 chord tones at each degree of the scale and exploring how those relate to the given modes. Then playing various chord progressions in those modes across various keys... I have no idea how I got there but it was something in the FSB lessons that sent me down the primrose path.

So then I return to my senses and come back to the lessons... So yeah, Major pentatonics it is, for now

 

[oysterphish]

I've had so many gigs and have had to learn a lot of music. Also have a full time job and family. I'm stuck on lesson two of the technique module.
Haven't really learned anything new from Full Stack lately. The modes and pentatonic sections were great, made me think about things differently even if I already know it.
I need more things to make me reframe my thinking.